by Susan Illene
Using her magic, she broke the orb into three pieces. They traveled together to the three locations we’d visited and used the shifter’s blood to help fuel the protection spells she made. I almost didn’t recognize the caves as they appeared nearly three thousand years ago. They’d hardly been touched by humans back then. In fact, the places where the shifter and shaman went didn’t appear inhabited at all. It was about as remote and difficult to reach as you could hope to find—especially against sorcerers from Europe.
At their final stop, the shaman used the last of her strength to make the protection spell. She warned the male shifter there would be a period where there would be no magic, but no one who knew about the orb would be around to search for it, so the fragments would be safe. And once magic returned, the spells would come out of their dormancy to work again. Of course, she said it in such vague terms that unless you knew about the dragons being banished into another dimension, and the magic going with them, it wouldn’t make sense. The shifter just nodded his head. Then she told him never to speak about the orb to anyone and to protect the caves until the day he died. He promised he would.
After she said all she needed to say, which was a lot for her, the shaman crumpled to the ground in front of the shifter. She’d died between one heartbeat and the next. For the sake of every race out there, she’d given every bit of herself to hide the orb. Her face was peaceful as the scene faded away.
Chapter 29
Aidan
Aidan stood in stunned amazement at the journey he had just witnessed. He’d tried more than once to imagine how the orb fragments had come to be in their recent locations and failed. Now he knew the difficulties a small group had faced to make it happen.
The tunnel walls resumed glowing, and the guide appeared before them. “As you saw, most of the people who sought to keep the orb out of the wrong hands died. They gave their lives so that others might live.”
Aidan didn’t say anything—none of them did. There were no words that could capture the sacrifices six individuals made, one of whom had not even been part of the original pact. He was humbled by the lengths they were willing to take. If not for them, would anyone currently in the cave be standing here now?
“This leads us to your final test,” Allison said, clasping her hands in front of her. “To be responsible for the orb, you must be willing to make similar vows as that first group. It must be protected at all costs.”
Bailey cleared her throat. “Why does it need to be reassembled? Wouldn’t it be better to take the pieces and dump each one into a different ocean or something?”
“For the same reason the others didn’t do it,” the guide answered.
“And that would be…” Conrad prompted.
Allison drew in a deep breath. “Because it was foreseen that someday it will serve a higher purpose, and the only place you can reforge it is here. This is why there had to be trials before you could take it. Only those with hearts who are honorable and true may safely possess the orb.”
Aidan mulled that over. “How will we need it? It only targets dragons and slayers.”
“Unfortunately, I don’t have those answers.” She gave them an apologetic look. “I could pretend like I know and speak riddles or allegories to confuse you, but I always thought that was lame. Plus, I’m too much of a modern woman for that. Whatever the original six wanted me to know is all I’ve got, and they didn’t reveal those details to me.”
He had to appreciate that she was at least being honest with them. “Do you believe it is something where we’ll know what to do when the time is right?”
“That pretty much sums it up.”
Danae shoved her hands into her jeans pockets. “How about we rewind back a bit and talk about this vow we have to take. What exactly are we promising to do?”
“It’s a combination of things,” Allison said, running her gaze across all of them. “You must swear to protect the orb with your lives until such a time as it can be destroyed—which will happen, someday. Also, there is going to come a time when your group is split up. By taking the vow, you will be linking yourself to the others, which means when you feel the call, you must answer it by returning to the place where you all met.”
“Norman?” Conrad asked.
Allison nodded.
Aidan frowned. “What do you mean by the call?”
“There will be no missing it. You’ll feel an urgent need to get back to Norman as soon as possible—no matter how far away you are from there,” she said.
“Wait.” Bailey put a hand up. “Are you saying some of us are going to be traveling really far away before this big emergency comes up? And will that be when we need to use the orb?”
Allison smiled. “I’m beginning to see why the other guides choose not to be very helpful. Yes to the first question—please don’t ask which of you ends up where because I don’t know. Yes and no to the next question. The call will be the beginning of the crisis, but it’s not like you’ll need to use the orb as soon as you meet up. That will come sometime later. I don’t know when, how, or why. Anything else?”
“Just one,” Bailey said. “Do you know if we’re going to have any trouble with people trying to take the orb from us in the near future?”
Allison laughed. “I think you already know the answer to that question.”
Bailey’s lips thinned, but she didn’t say anything else.
Conrad shifted his weight from foot to foot. “This is basically like a lifetime commitment, isn’t it?”
“You could say that,” Allison agreed. “If you don’t think you can put your duty first above everything else, you shouldn’t take the vow. The process for reforging the orb will not work if all five of you are not fully committed.”
Bailey put a hand on Conrad’s shoulder. “Your girlfriend, she…”
“…can’t be first,” he finished, ducking his head. “By coming on this trip, I pretty much committed myself to this already and sidelined her.”
“I’m sorry. This is my fault,” Bailey said, her gaze deeply apologetic.
Conrad shook his head. “No, it’s not. If you remember, I’m the one who insisted on going on this trip. You didn’t make me do shit.”
“Perhaps you can talk to her more when you return,” Aidan suggested. Even he didn’t want to see Bailey’s friend suffer.
“I’ve actually been thinkin’ a lot these past few days.” Conrad glanced between them. “Here you two are with every reason for your relationship not to work, and yet you’re still tryin’ to be together. Neither of you cares that you’re supposed to be enemies. You totally accept each other exactly as you are. So if my girl loves me, why is she tryin’ to change me from the man she met? And am I really gonna be happy if I give up things I care about for her?”
Some of those thoughts had crossed Aidan’s mind, but considering he and Conrad were barely civil to each other most of the time, he had not thought it his place to say anything. It was good to see the young man showing a new level of maturity.
“Does that mean everyone is ready to take their vows?” Allison asked.
Phoebe cocked a hip. “As long as there are no vows of chastity involved.”
“No.” The guide laughed. “There aren’t.”
“Tell us what to say and do,” Aidan said.
Allison waved her hand to the side, and a pedestal appeared. This one had a basin on top with the third orb fragment jutting from the middle, almost as if it had been glued or welded in place there. A silver dagger rested at the basin’s edge.
“First,” she said. “I will need Conrad to put his two orb pieces with the third. They won’t attach themselves or anything, but they need to be together.”
He pulled the fragments from his pocket and laid them in the middle of the pedestal. “Like that?”
“Yes,” Allison answered. “Now you must take the dagger and slice a cut across your palm. Let the blood drip across the fragments while repeating after me.”
Conrad g
lared at her. “Seriously? You kind of forgot to mention this part.”
She lifted a brow. “Are you saying you’re too much of a baby to make one cut?”
“No.” He worked his jaw. “A man just likes a little warning first.”
Conrad grabbed the dagger, sucked in a breath, and sliced his palm. Several curses were muttered under his breath directly after that, but he managed to move his hand over the stones in time for his blood to begin dripping on them.
“Repeat after me. I—state your name—swear to protect the orb with my life,” she began.
He cleared his throat. “I, Conrad Alberts, swear to protect the orb with my life.”
“And heed the call when it comes,” Allison continued. “No matter the personal sacrifices I must make. For better or worse, the orb and my companions will always come first above all else.”
Conrad repeated her words.
“And that’s it. Who’s next?” Allison asked, looking around.
Bailey stepped forward. “I’ll do it.”
Conrad handed the dagger over to her. Danae was already digging through one of the packs to get the first aid kit. She helped Conrad clean his wound and said a few chants over it to make certain he healed quickly. Meanwhile, Bailey cut her palm and hurried to squeeze blood over the fragments before the wound started healing.
“I, Bailey Monzac, swear to protect the orb with my life,” she said, her voice carrying clearly through the cavern.
After she had finished, Aidan went next with Phoebe and Danae going after him. It almost seemed like the air in the room thickened with each person’s vows—as if there was magic building and leading to something bigger.
“Now for the final phase,” Allison said, flicking her hand at the bloody dagger, so it disappeared. “For those of you without fireproof clothing on, I suggest you remove whatever you would like to keep.”
“Hold on.” Conrad lifted a finger. “Are you saying any clothes we wear aren’t going to survive what is coming next? Because if that’s the case, then I don’t see how our bodies will make it, either.”
“You’ll be fine as long as you meant your vows,” Allison reassured him.
His jaw dropped. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Yeah, I’m a little curious about that, too,” Danae said, her brows furrowed.
Allison slapped her forehead. “I forgot to tell you that this last stage will make everyone fireproof who isn’t already—as long as you meant your vows, of course.”
Conrad opened and closed his mouth. “Damn, that’s just…scary. I felt like I meant them, but now you’re making me second-guess myself.”
“You’ll be fine,” Allison said. “Probably.”
“That’s not helping!”
The guide looked at Aidan. “It’s now time for you to reforge the fragments. I assume you know what to do.”
He nodded and walked toward to the pedestal.
“Wait,” Danae called out. “I happen to like these clothes, so just give me a moment.”
She raced down the passageway and out of sight. After a moment of hesitation, Conrad went in the opposite direction. Danae returned a couple of minutes later wearing only a pink bra and underwear. Aidan averted his gaze, but he did catch enough to know the woman didn’t behave the least bit shy about her lack of attire and walked confidently. Conrad ran back to them in nothing except blue boxer shorts and a deep scowl on his face.
Aidan waited until Allison nodded before taking hold of the two loose fragments and pressing them into the third. Drying blood coated his fingertips, but it would be cleansed away soon enough. Once he was certain he’d positioned everything just right, he inhaled deeply and let the second flame flow out.
To his shock, the blue and purple fire lit up the entire room. He could hardly see anything as the flames took on a life of their own. They pulled and pulled at him, sucking the energy from his body to keep them going. The temperature rose inside the cavern until even Aidan began sweating from it. He shook as the flames continued to flow from his mouth, taking every last bit of his breath and somehow finding more. Aidan felt as if they took everything he had. It seemed as if five minutes had passed before the fire abated and the room returned to normal. He sucked in a lungful of oxygen, grateful to finally be able to breathe again. Once his light-headedness had passed, he glanced down and found the orb whole again with all of the blood gone.
“Damn, that was wild,” Conrad said behind him. Aidan turned and discovered the young man cupping his private parts. He’d survived unscathed, but his shorts were gone. “Can I go get my clothes now?”
“Sure,” Allison answered.
Aidan studied the walls while Danae hurried past him. The guide had said the stone there was like zaphiriam and could handle the second flames. She’d been right. The cavern room where they were located was now sealed with no cracks for water to run through. If they’d been in a cave without the right stone, it could have been disastrous. The rock in the next layer above might have crashed down on top of them. No wonder it took the shaman and shifters so long to select the right location for this part of the quest.
Danae and Conrad returned with their clothes and shoes on.
“So, uh,” Conrad gestured between himself and Danae. “We don’t have to worry about getting burned by dragon fire anymore?”
Allison nodded. “Fire of any type won’t be a problem for you, but keep in mind you are still mortal and dragons can hurt you in any other way. You won’t heal quickly like a slayer or shifter can.”
“Excuse me.” Conrad grabbed Aidan’s arm and held on for a minute. When he didn’t burn, he grinned. “Can’t hurt me by touch, either!”
Bailey rubbed her face. “I just know this is going to cause problems.”
Allison took the orb from the pedestal and handed it to Conrad. “This is still your responsibility until it can be placed in a safe location—such as the one being prepared at the shifter fortress. I don’t have to remind you of your duty, do I?”
“Nope.” He took hold of the orb. “I got it.”
The guide waved at them. “You are free to go, and I wish each of you the best of luck. Please take care on your journey home.”
Aidan took Bailey’s hand, and they made their way back through the tunnels, going the same way they came in. He still felt weak and walked slower than usual to navigate the slippery steps. The others followed behind them. When they emerged from the tunnel, they found Kade and Miles waiting for them.
Miles zeroed in on Danae right away, frowning at her chest and the long-sleeve t-shirt she wore. “Weren’t you wearing a bra when you went inside?”
Bailey snickered.
“Who has the orb?” Kade asked.
Conrad held it up long enough for Aidan’s uncle to see it, then stuffed it back in his pocket where it left an odd bulge. He’d have to find an alternative way to carry the orb now that it was whole.
“Let’s go!” Miles called out. “We’ve still got a few hours of daylight, and I don’t want to waste them here.”
Aidan found it rather amusing how much the man enjoyed being in charge.
Chapter 30
Aidan
Aidan grew restless, sitting in the backseat of the truck with Bailey. They’d acquired the orb, but they still had the journey home to complete. This was the time when they had the most to lose. And yet as he stared out the window, watching the countryside go by, all he could think about was leaving the confining truck and soaring in the open skies. His inner dragon had grown quiet—too quiet. Something had happened at the last cavern when he blew his second flames. It had drained him of almost all his energy, and now that he thought about it, Beast had been the one to send that final surge. They might not have survived it otherwise. Aidan wasn’t used to the other part of him lying dormant. He kept thinking if he shifted and flew, it might help.
“There is trouble ahead,” Kade said, leaning forward in the front seat. “Dragons are attacking that town.”
> Aidan caught Bailey’s fingers curl around her sword hilt. She glanced at him. “That’s Watonga up there. It’s not a big city, but it is big enough there could be a lot of people still living there.”
“Man.” Conrad slapped the steering wheel. “We only got a couple of hours until we make it home. Can’t we go around this shit?”
“The orb is our first priority,” Kade agreed.
Fire spewed from the dragons’ mouths as they ravaged the town in the distance. Aidan could only imagine the fear and terror they were spreading to innocent people. “Every death from this point forward is on us if we don’t do something.”
He might be feeling weaker than usual, but he had high hopes a battle might bring Beast back out. This was his chance to be sure, and if they saved a few humans while they were at it, all the better.
“I have to fight them,” Bailey said, glancing at Aidan. “How about we leave the trucks here, and you can fly me the rest of the way?”
Kade turned in his seat. “I have counted at least six dragons so far. If you and Aidan go alone, it will be too risky.”
“I’m sure Phoebe will go with us. You guys just park next to that farmhouse up ahead, and you should be fine,” Bailey replied, determination in her gaze.
Aidan nodded. “It is a good plan.”
His uncle pointed a finger at him. “Do not let any of the dragons get away or they will spread the word that we are here.”
“I’ll take care of it,” Aidan promised. He believed he could do that much.
Bailey got on the radio and let Miles know of their plans. As soon as the trucks pulled off the road, they jumped out of the vehicles. Phoebe appeared ready for a good fight as well. Aidan and his sister quickly shifted into their dragon forms and then he picked Bailey up in his arms. Had there ever been a time when one of his kind actually carried a slayer into battle to kill dragons? He rather doubted it.